The second year of a three-year Boston area field research project on the relations of ethnicity, kinship and adaptation of the elderly has been completed. Samples of 48 Chinese-American and 40 Irish-American families with elderly members were selected in six urban and suburban locations representing a broad range of socioeconomic variation. Ethnographic field work on the contexts of family life have been conducted in each of the locations. A series of intensive interviews with family members (covering social background, life history, kin and other social support, transitions, and cultural values) has been initiated and will continue into the third year. In the third year field work will be completed, both qualitative and quantitative analyses of data will be carried out, and reports will be written.